In the past decade, there has been a renewed interest in vanilla and tonka fragrances. And when I say "vanilla and tonka," I mean popped-collar, slicked hair, dude-bro, chad-swaggering clubber juice, with all eyes on the prize, if you get me. The sensitive, introspective, soul-searching, manna-eating perfumes for humble people.
If you want the proletariat or petite bourgeoisie version, Azzaro and Thierry Mugler have you covered with their The Most Wanted and A*Men frags, which are basically sweetened woody tonkas on steroids. For an aristocratic touch, opt for something by Guerlain or Zoologist, particularly Cristiano Canali's Bee from the latter. Bee adopts a similarly dense sweetness, using materials that smell far sturdier than others, while creating a comparable scent cloud of "Hey, look at me!" For $175, you too can smell like a bird catcher.
It's easy to get caught up in Zoologist's slightly gimmicky marketing and view Bee as a studied reconstruction of honeybee wax and queen pods brimming with royal jelly. Perhaps that's what Canali intended to convey—and to some extent, I think he succeeds. But let's not miss the forest for the trees. This is sweet swank for guys, crafted to help them attract whoever they're pursuing. If you're looking for the finest in that genre, here it is.